Mr. J. Michael Shore, Program Director
I was born in England before WWII and survived the war on a farm, far from the battles and bombings. I went to a public Grammar School in Sheffield until I was almost eighteen. Before taking the college entrance exams, I dropped out of school to join the Merchant Marines, where I served for four years with Shell Tankers, Ltd. I sailed all seven seas and visited fifty-two countries.
In 1959 I emigrated to the United States, arriving in Pittsburgh on July 22. On January 1, 1960, I started working at Mellon Institute, which at that time was still an independent research organization. I took classes at Pitt while working full-time. In 1963 I moved into the Pitt Physics department and finally earned a BS in Physics in 1967. I then entered a Masters program in Education at Pitt and taught advanced placement physics at Taylor Allderdice High School to fulfill the degree requirement. After earning an MA in Teaching in 1968, I continued at Allderdice. In addition to teaching A.P. physics for thirty years, I have taught all varieties of introductory physics, general science, physical science, and computer science at Allderdice.
During Summer breaks and after school I have worked on research projects in computer science at Pitt, physics at CMU, and engineering at ALCOA and the Bureau of Mines.
Mr. Shore retired from Allderdice this Spring. He hopes to continue with Outreach work at CMU and to master the par 3 golf course with his wife.
Dr. Stephen Garoff, Program Coordinator
A baby boomer, I grew up in a small town on the New Jersey shore. Our life was simpler than kids' today. High school was a good time, and I met my future wife. Somehow, I always felt I wanted to be a scientist - I don't know exactly why.
I went to college at a time when the country was in turbulence. I studied and worked hard on my classwork; but in truth, my life outside of the classroom and the friends I made are the most lasting impressions. We set out to stop a war and change the world. Maybe we did . . . maybe we didn't.
Graduate school in physics was a great experience. I learned a lot, finally proposed to my long-suffering wife-to-be, and really began to enjoy scientific research. I also met the most influential person in my life, my technical grandfather (that's my Ph.D. thesis advisor's thesis advisor). He taught me that the real pay off is not so much in the science that you do but in the young people you help to become future scientists and citizens.
After an exciting time doing research in the oil business, I came to CMU and finally got my chance to teach. It's even better than I thought! Whether it's graduates, undergraduates, or high school students, or my daughter, the best is watching students explore, succeed, and even fail and try again.
Julia Sero, Assistant and Web Page Creator
I was sitting in my shoe-box of a dorm room one morning in the Fall of 1996 when Mr. Shore called me. In a lilting English accent that turns "theta" into "thayter," my old Physics teacher offered me a job as his assistant for the next generation of the summer internship program I had enjoyed so much. I accepted at once.
Julia Sero, Assistant and Web Page CreatorI was one of the first ten students in the CMU/PPS Outreach program in 1995. I worked for Dr. Fred Lanni, one of the coolest people in the entire world, in the Center for Light Microscope Imaging and Biotechnology, studying size heterogeneity in cultured mouse embryo connective tissue cells. I loved working there and I learned a great deal about cell biology, optics, and lab work in general. I continued to go to CMU after school in the Fall and Winter of my senior year at Allderdice, until theatre season began and my time was devoted to two musicals. Still, that summer was one of the best times of my life, and I realized that I had to be a scientist.
I am currently in the Scholar's Program at Penn State, majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and plan to minor in microbiology, chemistry, and dance. My two loves are the lab and the stage, and I hope to get my PhD in cell biology, just in case I don't make it on Broadway. (It could happen!)
I am a native of Pittsburgh, PA, and attended Allderdice High School after being in the PPS Spanish Magnet program for elementary and middle schools. I presented research projects at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science for six consecutive years, earning ten first awards at the regional and state levels. I also left my mark on the Allderdice stage and sang in the school choir and trios. Last Spring I began working with Dr. David Blizard at PSU, studying how mice taste (yum!) saccharine and ethanol.
This was my first real experiment with html, so I hope you like our page!
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